SHARPER THAN A SWORD

SERMONS

Hebrews 4:12-13 "For
the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any
two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of
joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the
heart. 13And there is no creature hidden from His
sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom
we must give account."

All articles are written
using the NKJV, unless
otherwise noted! All articles are written by David Hicks, unless specified
otherwise.

Weightier Matters

Part II

Work
Out Your Own Salvation.

In our introduction, we discussed
that in many cases, it is easy to lose sight of the weightier matters
concerning true service to God. As an example, we began to look into an
issue that plagues many Christians and churches today. Many problems
face the Lord's church today; societies declining moral standards,
Christian apathy, church decline, just to name a few. In many cases,
today's churches have gone outside the box in order to stem the
continued slide of the church; further sending them towards a corrupted
separation from the original design.

In this series of lessons, it is
our intention to prove that instead of a departure from the wisdom
delivered by the Holy Spirit through Devine scripture, a whole hearted
return to that wisdom is truly necessary in order to survive in a
perverse and crooked generation!

This is
the very message of our text, as introduced in our opening lesson.

Text:

Philippians 2:12-16 “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed,
not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out
your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to
do for His good pleasure. 14 Do all things without complaining and disputing
, 15 that you may become blameless and harmless,
children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse
generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life , so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I
have not run in vain or labored in vain.”

The
church at Philippi was surrounded by an overwhelming Roman influence
(being a Roman colony, heavily populated with retired military). This
church was surrounded by paganism, intellectualism, and immorality
(sounds familiar!). Yet, there is not one single rebuke in this letter
of Paul. These Christians are presently doing it right! They possessed
the Lord's government (elders, deacons, saints – 1:1 ), and were the only church that supported
the Apostle Paul financially in his efforts in other places ( 4:15 -16 ). They were succeeding in their
individual efforts and the legitimate work of the church ( Ephesians 4: 12 -16
).

In
the charge of Paul to allow the mind of Christ to be theirs ( 2:5 ), the instructions of our text inform
these brethren just how to overcome in a perverse and crooked
generation, and there is no doubt that these same instructions would be
the exact same thing Paul would instruct the churches today!

Within the text are three specific
instructions to these Christians that for us become the weightier
matters that need to be explored, digested, and ultimately practiced
(one thing to do, one thing not to do, and one thing to hold fast). In
this lesson we want to look at the first point (the one thing to do).

“Work
out your own salvation with fear and trembling”

I.Work Out.

One of the greatest threats to the
church today is the detached concept of service among the Christians
that make up the body of Christ. There seems to be this overwhelming
idea that there must be easier ways or a more corporate approach to
service so that the burden does not fall so heavily on the individual.

In this first instruction of Paul,
the continued success of the church in Philippi would not be based on their creative exploration of new ideas, but from
the idea that salvation was a challenge that each Christian was to work
out on their own!

Every member of the body actively
working out their own salvation (finding the secrets necessary to
accomplish the work God has given each), multiplied by the entire
efforts of the body, equals the success of the body (regardless of
environment). This is the method God has designed for the success of the
church and its work, note:

Ephesians 4:16 “from whom the whole body, joined and knit together
by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by
which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the
edifying of itself in love.”

II.Your Own.

In
this exhortation by Paul is the recognition that these Christians must
fulfill these instructions regardless of who is there to remind them (
“not as in my presence only, but
now much more in my absence” ). This is a premise Paul has already
touched on in the previous chapter, note:

Philippians 1:27 “Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of
Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent , I may
hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind
striving together for the faith of the gospel,”

In this instruction is the idea
that Christians are to be Christians 100% of the time, not just when
they are surrounded by their peers. This condemns the practice of
playing church or Christian! The command is that our conduct be worthy
of the gospel of Christ always; this includes growth in wisdom,
production in service, and benevolence towards our brethren and fellow
man!

The accountability is on the
individual (regardless of environment), and goes back to the first point
in describing where the true success of the church lies!

III.
Salvation.

The salvation mentioned in this
exhortation is a gift that must not be squandered away! It was never
offered with burdening in mind, but as a motivating factor, note:

1 John 5:3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep His
commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.”

Hebrews 4:1 “Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His
rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.”

This
also goes back to the illustration of Christ given in verses 5-11 (the mind of service that we are to seek),
who humbled Himself in obedience (even to death), and God exalted Him.
Likewise, we are to obey God in all that we have been given (even to
death), so that we may be exalted as sort of first fruits of His
creatures (
James 1:18 ).

IV.Fear and Trembling.

This
is often a misunderstood point in the service of the children of the
Lord. First, there is weight in the words used just as they are given.
The fact of the matter is that the gravity of falling short of the
salvation offered by God through Christ Jesus bears severe consequences
(see: Hebrews
10:26-31 ).

However, this first point not
withstanding, the Christian should only feel the true dread of God's
wrath, if they are deserving of it. The true fear of God revolves around
a respect for His power, an awe of His wisdom, and a dread of His wrath.
If we are truly living with respect of His power and the recognition of
His wisdom over our own, we need not tremble for fear of His wrath.

With all this said, the idea of
any deterrent is to help direct behavior for the good of those
whom it is directed at. This is the case here!

V.
Summary.

In
this first simple instruction (much like the weightier matters of Matthew 23:23 ; justice, mercy, and faith), we
see that the success of the Lord's church falls directly on the practice
and service of its own membership and their love for the duty God has
given them.

We see that each Christian must
not try to diminish their duty in committee or only practice Christian
service among peers. Instead, to be successful in a perverse and crooked
generation and shine as lights in the world, each Christian must once
again seek to serve the Lord in a Christ like manner (as it was among
the Philippians).

Only when this is the mindset of
each member of the body of Christ, will the church grow in this present
environment. Governments, social environments, are never a threat to
good works, note:

Romans 13:3 “For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to
evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and
you will have praise from the same.”

1 Peter 2:11-12 “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims,
abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, 12 having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles,
that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good
works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.”

1 Peter 3:15 “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and
always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for
the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;”

1 Peter 4:11 “If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of
God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God
supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ,
to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever.” Amen.

For the future of the church, this
simple instruction for each Christian becomes a